Ballad of a Bounty Hunter: An Alphabet Story
by thievinghippo
Summary: A Cathar taking part in The Great Hunt? Pearth's story from her arrival on Hutta and beyond, told through short stories.


Hutta.

Damn, Pearth hated this place. One of her first jobs, looking for the son of a minor Hut crime lord, took place on Hutta a few years ago. She hated the way the dense air seeped into her pores. She hated how dirty the place looked, debris on the ground and the occasional dead body.

And she especially hated the reason why she came to Hutta in the first place.

_The Great Hunt._

Pearth was _Cathar._ _Mandalorians_ organized the Great Hunt. Only three hundred years had passed since the bastards destroyed the Cathar's homeworld, not to mention killing almost all Cathar in the process. Now her people were little more than lap dogs to the Republic, like her brother, or worse, slaves.

Not Pearth. No one would ever put her in a cage. She'd like to see anyone try.

Now that she knew the hunt existed, she would play their games and when she won? She'd grind their faces into the ground. Pearth held back a laugh, thinking how scandalized the Mandalorians would be when a Cathar won their Great Hunt.

It would be beautiful. And Pearth was a sucker for beautiful things.

But first she needed to meet her team. From the outside, The Poison Pit Cantina seemed like any other dive. Her research on the place showed otherwise. Small and discreet and favored by all sorts of low lifes. Pearth even heard rumors that Imperial Intelligence liked to hang out here once in a while. She'd have to make sure and stay out of their way if that's true.

Might even be a good place to pick up the odd job here and then. As much as she hated to admit, Pearth needed the credits. She loved her job, being a bounty hunter and the sheer freedom it provided was all she wanted in life. But the reality of choosing to work in Imperial space meant that a lot of potential clients refused to look past her velvety hide or tapered ears.

Even with a diminished pool of prospects, she still had a better life in Imperial space than the Republic. Those folks didn't need the services of a bounty hunter nearly as much. Not to mention the Republic tended to look down on folk such as her.

As she took the last few steps towards the meeting room, Pearth simply hoped the team Braden promised her could deliver.

* * *

"Cheater!"

_Is this guy for real?_ Pearth thought as she unloaded her pistol on the Vexx. She hated pretentious assholes like him. Their one redeemable feature was the fact they provided steady work; someone was always willing to pay to take guys like him out.

For a champion quick-draw artist, Vexx went down pretty quick. Pearth knelt next to him, glad her gloves kept her from touching his skin. Dealing with the dead was a facet of her job she could do without. Generally, she preferred to bring her bounties in alive; seeing that her profession wasn't assassin, but bounty hunter.

But her missiles and heavy armor weren't just for show. Sometimes a bounty required death, like this guy. As she fished his pockets, looking for his ID tags, she wondered if he had any dreams, other than robbing Imperial pay stations. Maybe he wanted a farm on Dantooine or a penthouse on Coruscant. Didn't matter now.

As her fingers found the tags, Pearth thought about her dreams. Making a name for herself, people not caring about her species when they hired her. Little things, but in the grand scheme of her life, they meant the world. Back on Rendili, she didn't have to worry about anything like that, enough Cathar settled there so they blended in.

But the life her parents expected her to live, a loyal Republic soldier, made her choke, trapped her in a cage she never thought she'd break free of. The day Pearth was meant to enlist? She had stowed away in a cargo ship on the way to Nar Shaddaa.

And felt free for the first time in her entire life.

Winning The Great Hunt would be a different kind of freedom. The freedom to take whatever job she wanted. And not having to scavenge through a dead man's pockets, looking for any extra credits or weapons. Even mats would be nice; she could sell them for a small profit. Once she removed anything of value from his person, Pearth walked out of the private gate without a backwards glance.

Pearth quickened her pace, not wanting to be in the station when the authorities discovered Vexx's body. Granted, everything had been above board, he was a bounty and she collected, she still preferred to be far, far away when questions demanded answers.

As she made her way back to The Poison Pit, Pearth contemplated visiting Zinny. Maybe the old Twi'lek might have another move or two to show her. She dismissed the idea. The sooner Braden secured her audience with Nem'ro the better.

Entering the cantina, Pearth put her hands in her pocket and hummed along to the music playing from the jukebox. It had been a good day. A tiring day, with the stress of meeting her team and breaking into safe houses. Not to mention the whole killing Vexx thing. But overall? A damn good day.

And as she turned the corner, heading towards the team's room, she had a feeling it would only get better.


End file.
